Defendant in Kate Steinle shooting case sentenced to time served

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Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, right, is led into the courtroom by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, left, and Assistant District Attorney Diana Garciaor, center, for his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco on July 7, 2015. (Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. Serra is going to be representing Zarate in federal court. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. Serra is going to be representing Zarate in federal court. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez, left, looks on as defense attorney Tony Serra gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. Serra is going to be representing Zarate in federal court. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Defense attorney Tony Serra gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. Serra is going to be representing Zarate in federal court. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco district attorney George Gascón gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Francisco Ugarte with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office gives a statement to the news media following a sentencing hearing, on a gun possession charge, for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was acquitted in the murder of Kate Steinle, at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. Zarate was sentenced to three years in prison but will not serve any more time in state custody because of credit for time served. Serra is going to be representing Zarate in federal court. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez, second from left, leaves San Francisco Superior Court after a not guilty verdict was handed down to Jose Ines Garcia Zarate in the Kate Steinle murder case in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Alex Bastion, spokesman for the District Attorney’s office, speaks outside San Francisco Superior Court after a not guilty verdict was handed down in the Jose Inez Garcia Zarate case in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

A lone figure stands Thursday evening Nov. 30, 2017 near the spot on Pier 14 where Kate Steinle was killed two years ago in San Francisco. The man accused in her killing, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was acquitted today on all charges except for being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Defense attorney Matt Gonzalez leaves San Francisco Superior Court after a not guilty verdict was handed down to Jose Inez Garcia Zarate in the Kate Steinle murder case in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi speaks outside San Francisco Superior Court after a not guilty verdict was handed down in the Jose Inez Garcia Zarate case in San Francisco, Calif., Thursday, November 30, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

This undated file booking photo provided by the San Francisco Police Department shows Jose Ines Garcia Zarate. San Francisco jurors heard the muddled confession of the Mexican national on trial for the fatal shooting of Kate Steinle, whose death touched off a fierce debate over immigration. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, prosecutors played a portion of the interrogation of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate recorded several hours after Steinle was shot on July 1, 2015. (San Francisco Police Department via AP)

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, left, answers questions after a verdict was reached in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, in San Francisco. A jury on Thursday found Garcia Zarate not guilty on possible charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the 2015 death of Kate Steinle on a popular pier. Jurors did find Garcia Zarate guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia walks to the courtroom after a verdict was reached in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, in San Francisco. Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the killing of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier that touched off a national immigration debate two years ago, rejecting possible charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez listens to a witness testify in court Tuesday morning, Aug. 25, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif., during a preliminary hearing in the Pier 14 killing of Kate Steinle this past July. Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican national, is being held in the slaying that set off a firestorm over how local and federal authorities allowed the five-time deported felon to return to the streets just weeks before Steinle’s death. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

San Francisco public defender attorney, Francisco Ugarte, second from left, answers questions after a verdict was reached in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, in San Francisco. Garcia Zarate was found not guilty in the killing of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier that touched off a national immigration debate two years ago, rejecting possible charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Flowers and a portrait of Kate Steinle on July 17, 2015 remain at a memorial site on Pier 14 in San Francisco. (Paul Chinn /San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A note to Kathryn Steinle is tied to the railing on Pier 14, Tuesday afternoon, July 7, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Steinle was gunned down at the site while out for an evening stroll with her father last week. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Kathryn Steinle is photographed on a trip to visit Prague and Amsterdam in 2009. Steinle died from a single gunshot wound on July 1, 2015, while walking on Pier 14 along San Francisco’s Embarcadero with her father. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)

Father Cameron Faller (C), associate pastor at the Church of the Epiphany, conducts a prayer service at the site where 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was killed on July 6, 2015 in San Francisco, California. According to police, Steinle was shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez as she walked with her father on San Francisco’s Pier 14 on July 1. Sanchez had been previously deported five times. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

With their son Brad Steinle, right, Kate Steinle’s parents, Jim Steinle and Liz Sullivan, stand with two of their attorneys on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday morning, Sept. 1, 2015, announcing that legal claims will be filed against San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and two other agencies in the death of their daughter. Kate Steinle was killed July 1, 2015 while walking with her father along Pier 14 on the Embarcadero. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Jim Steinle, center, and Liz Sullivan, right, the parents of Kate Steinle, walk to a court room for closing arguments in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate accused of killing their daughter, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, in San Francisco. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Kathryn Steinle, center, is photographed with close friends Nicole Ludwig, left, and Casey Audino, right. They were photographed together on a trip to visit Prague and Amsterdam in 2009. Steinle died from a single gunshot wound on July 1, 2015, while walking on Pier 14 along San Francisco’s Embarcadero with her father. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)

Kathryn Steinle, right, and friend Nicole Ludwig, center, are photographed in South Africa from a trip the two women took there in 2008. Steinle died from a single gunshot wound on July 1, 2015, while walking on Pier 14 along San Francisco’s Embarcadero with her father. An illegal resident, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 52, was arrested in connection with her death and is being held in San Francisco County Jail following his not-guilty plea on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 to a charge of murder. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)

Matt Gonzalez, chief attorney of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, speaks to reporters at a courthouse in San Francisco on Oct. 23, 2017. The bullet that killed Kate Steinle two years ago ricocheted off the ground about 100 yards away before hitting her in the back and later launching a criminal case at the center of a national immigration debate. Lawyers for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate argue that the ricochet shows the shooting was accidental. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Kathryn Steinle, right, is photographed with close friends Casey Audino, left, and Nicole Ludwig, center. They were photographed together on a trip to San Diego where Steinle volunteered with the Challenged Athletes Foundation event in 2009. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)

San Francisco Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia walk to a courtroom for closing arguments in the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate accused of killing Kate Steinle, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, in San Francisco. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate had been deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when Kate Steinle was fatally shot in the back while walking with her father on the pier. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Kathryn Steinle, right, is photographed with an unidentified guide while participating in a South African safari in 2008. Steinle died from a single gunshot wound on July 1, 2015, while walking on Pier 14 along San Francisco’s Embarcadero with her father. An illegal resident, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 52, was arrested in connection with her death and is being held in San Francisco County Jail following his not-guilty plea on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, to a charge of murder. (Courtesy of Nicole Ludwig)

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, lawyer Diana Garcia and Alex Bastian, spokesperson for the DA’s office, exit the courtroom at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. The opening statements of the trial of Jose Ines Garcia-Zarate, an undocumented immigrant accused of shooting and killing Kate Steinle began Monday. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Liz Sullivan, mother of Kate Steinle, goes through security before entering the courtroom at the San Francisco Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. The opening statements of the trial of Jose Ines Garcia-Zarate, an undocumented immigrant accused of shooting and killing Kate Steinle began Monday. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

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SAN FRANCISCO — The undocumented immigrant who was acquitted of murdering Pleasanton native Kate Steinle was sentenced Friday to three years in prison on a gun possession charge — but will not spend any more time in state custody because of credit for time served.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate will now be handed over to federal authorities to be prosecuted on gun charges.

After a four-week trial that drew national attention, a jury in November acquitted the Mexican national of murder, involuntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm in the July 2015 shooting of Steinle on San Francisco’s Pier 14. But jurors convicted him of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Judge Samuel Feng sentenced Garcia Zarate, who has already spent two and a half years in jail waiting for his trial, to time served on the possession conviction. Feng on Friday also denied a motion by Garcia Zarate’s defense lawyers to throw out the conviction.

The defense attorneys have argued that the jury received improper instructions about the charge. But the prosecution argued that no mistake had been made, and Feng agreed. The defense, however, plans to appeal Feng’s ruling, public defender Matt Gonzalez told reporters.

The high-profile case against Garcia Zarate sparked a national political firestorm over immigration policy. In 2015, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and others blamed San Francisco’s “sanctuary city” policy for Steinle’s death. Garcia Zarate, 45, had been deported five times but was released from a San Francisco jail instead of being sent back to his native Mexico.

Early next week, Garcia Zarate will be arraigned in federal court in Oakland, where he faces similar charges of being a convicted felon and an illegal immigrant in possession of a firearm.

Garcia Zarate will be defended in federal court by J. Tony Serra, the flamboyant attorney who is also representing Ghost Ship manager Derick Almena in a criminal case stemming from the deaths of 36 people in a 2016 fire at the converted Oakland art space.

While both sides in state court assiduously avoided discussing politics in the courtroom — instead focusing on the physical evidence surrounding the shooting — Serra told reporters Friday that he’ll take a different stance in federal court. He said he plans to argue that the federal case should be dismissed for vindictive prosecution by the Trump administration.

“A vote for guilty in the federal case is a vote for Trump,” Serra said, adding that Garcia Zarate is “being made a martyr to the racist perspective of Trump.”

A spokesperson for the San Francisco U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Garcia Zarate’s defense attorneys have argued that the shooting was an accident, suggesting that he found the gun on the pier and that it accidentally discharged when he touched it, with the bullet ricocheting 78 feet before hitting the 32-year-old Steinle. Garcia Zarate threw the gun into the water after it fired.

In their motion for a new trial on the state gun possession charge, defense lawyers had asked Feng to instruct the jury about “momentary possession,” a defense to a possession charge when a defendant only briefly holds an illicit object like a gun or drugs while disposing of it. But Feng did not tell the jury about that part of the law, according to the defense motion.

A momentary possession defense requires that the defendant not throw away a gun in order to prevent police from retrieving it. Garcia Zarate’s lawyers claimed that he was tossing it in the water to stop it from shooting, while the prosecution argued that he was getting rid of it to avoid being caught.

While the conviction didn’t have much practical impact on Garcia Zarate’s prison sentence, if it had been thrown out it might have provided him a stronger defense in fighting the similar charge in federal court. The fact that Garcia Zarate was already convicted by a jury in state court is “going to be in the front lobe of every (federal) juror, and it’s a challenge for me,” Serra acknowledged.

Meanwhile, the lawyers for Steinle’s family have turned their attention to a pair of lawsuits that describe the woman’s death as a failure on multiple fronts: In addition to San Francisco and its sheriff, they blame federal immigration agents who failed to issue a warrant for Garcia Zarate’s deportation and the federal agency that owned the handgun that killed Steinle after it was stolen from an agent’s car.

“Kate’s fate was sealed when a U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Ranger failed to properly secure and/or store a government-issued firearm while it was left in an unoccupied vehicle in a high auto-theft neighborhood,” the Steinles’ lawsuit states.

A federal judge has dismissed the family’s case against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, San Francisco and then-Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, but ruled that the case against the Bureau of Land Management could proceed because its employee’s negligence contributed to Steinle’s death.

The family’s attorneys will head to court this month in the hopes of securing a date for the trial against the BLM. They’re also appealing the judge’s ruling in the case against San Francisco and Mirkarimi.